Estamos en las maravillas invernales.

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but the cold in Colorado is much easier to handle than the cold in the MidWest. 

Even a polar vortex is warmer in Colorado!

Outside our window!

Hiking with Ethan and Jenna.

Train!

We don't spend the whole time out playing and frolicking in the snow. Below was one session about "transition" that I appreciated the visual provided. A "family" is roped to each other and then loosely to the other members of their team and then expected to traverse an unsafe bridge. Very very clearly, the job could not be completed without the help of the surrounding supporters. In addition, the job could not be completed any faster than the slowest member of the team.

Estamos en un barco.

Stoller Family Christmas Cruise 2024

Leaving the port at Cape Canaveral. 

Formal dinner for Christmas Eve.

Christmas caroling in the piazza.

Our steward must have felt sorry for us, as we had not brought any decoration for our door.

Santa visiting all the kids on Christmas morning.

Tea time in the dining room. 

Visting Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on 12.26.24

Visting Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on 12.26.24

Visting Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on 12.26.24

Stopping for gelato.

Visting Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on 12.26.24

Visting Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on 12.26.24

These boats are cities at sea. Monsterous!

Visiting Chocal in the D.R. (A small women's chocolate cooperative)

At Chocal we worked alongside the women, planting cocoa seeds, roasting & grinding the cocoa, separating the shells from the cocoa by hand, mixing the chocolate, pouring the chocolate into mold, and then of course packaging the product. Yes there was definitely taste testing along the way!

Amber Cove. Puerto Plata Dominican Republic 12.27.24

Amber Cove. Puerto Plata Dominican Republic 12.27.24

 

Stoller Family Christmas 2024

Tour through the galleys, stopping to get a picture with the Head Chef, Jerry.

Head chef, Jerry and Director of Restaurants, Oscar did a cooking show for us. Hilarious.

Much Love.

 

Estamos en transición.

 I've kept this blog for a few years now. I thought it an unexpected milestone when I hit 10 years, now with 2025 we've rolled into 17 years of blogging. I thought it an unexpected milestone when I hit 700 posts, which now the blogspot is past 1000 posts. Could I turn philosophical and perseverate on the meaning behind this, perhaps relating it to goal setting, or considering realistic expectations, or the unexpected way life unfolds? Of course I could, and if I'm honest each tangent is unfolding in my brain right now. But at the same time, false pontification is not the mood I'm in at the moment. So instead I'll just say...

Happy 2025! 

It's going to be another wild ride of a year. I turn 40 this year. Jake and I have our 2nd anniversary this year. Lord willing, we will move long term to Honduras this year. Each of those statements hard to believe. But we're buckled up and ready, here we go!  We traveled with the Stoller family over Christmas, and had a couple days at home over the New Year's holiday before heading to the East Coast. Attending New Year's Eve service, praying together with our West Lafayette family, it seemed real and heavy that this time next year could potentially look very different. I am trying to make a point of slowing down and enjoying what life has for us this year. Not necessarily a New Years resolution, but rather just reflecting a change of season, or different stage of life, acknowledging that life is happening quickly and I don't want to miss any of it, or spend it overly stressed and unable to recognize joy in the process. 

End of 2024.

Finally got to bring home the rebuilt engine for the '37 Ford

Bringing it into the shop to rest until the truck is ready for it.

Enjoying the Bowerman nibling Christmas Show! Sam. Sadie. Ellie.

 

Stoller Family Christmas Cruise 2024 (see separate post for additional pictures)

 

Into 2025

When you plan your travels around the food options! Sorrento's

Walking the New Jersey Boardwalk. Asbury Park.

Hiking Soapstone with friend in CT. Mike&Emily. Seb&Alison+Dexter.

Next Stop. Colorado.

Much Love.

Tanto estrés.

 Jake and I are finishing up work responsibilities for the year 2024 today. Myself, almost, I do still have some clinic appointments. But Jake, it's official. His last day at Braun is today. 

He surprised me by submitting his official last day of work approximately three months ago. Yes, you would think ample time for Braun to arrange a replacement to be trained... but let's leave soapboxes alone for today. (In all honesty, it's not fairly even my soapbox, will have to have Jake post sometime.) He submitted the date before we had really started talking seriously with WorldVenture, and long before we had started the application and interview process, which we are currently treading our way through. It was his faith in God's direction through a rather unknown, uncertain future that surprised me. Letting go and jumping without the parachute strapped to his back. To us, seems like a leap of faith, in reality, God is just asking us to take the next step a trust.

So as he has been frantically trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible at Braun this week, I've been undergoing the usual juggling process on my side of things. I'm not sure why, but stress has been higher as well. Perhaps, I'm feeling it from Jake, or perhaps because we will be gone next week and I don't like leaving work for my partners, perhaps all of the above. Either way, I had a thought. Just a moment, I remembered what it was like as a resident to show up, operate all day, and though I took the responsibility as serious as I could, ultimately there was an Attending where the buck actually stopped. That thought, "wouldn't it be nice to not be responsible for what happens to everyone." And then I shook my head and vanished the thought; 99% positive simply stress-induced delirium. Ha. 

We are both looking forward to the end of the week. I am proud of Jake, and thankful for his leading steps. It is fun having a front row seat watching him become the man God wants him to be.  

 Much Love.

Estamos montando motos.

Jake and I hit one year of marriage yesterday. I still struggle to believe that we're actually married, let alone married for over a year now. Just doesn't seem possible. Yet here we are, a testament to God's goodness and His love for his children and His ability to create a blessing for those who follow Him exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)

Not saying that we're starting a trend here. Or are we...

Either way, I was thankful to have space on a seat which didn't require me to hang on for dear life.

Much Love. 

Estoy agradecida.

 Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Rounding at the hospital this morning, and everything felt a bit deserted. 

Driving to the hospital, the roads were all but empty and quiet. I pulled into the parking lot at the hospital to find it oddly vacant save one other lone vehicle. Walking the halls of the hospital, I saw one dietary personnel, but otherwise, again, empty. Thankfully, the patients themselves were in fact still in their rooms and not AWOL like seemingly the rest of Lafayette. Later, a few docs did pass through the lounge as I was working and shared a friendly "Happy Thanksgiving!" and I was feeling better about the day, until it came time to leave and I found myself once again flying down the road unimpeded by the bumper to bumper traffic that had filled that exact same spot just the evening before. The stores on either side of me darkened and closed, not a soul. And I thought this must be what loneliness feels like. Lafayette must be lonely. 

And then I drove by Denny's, packed and bustling for Thanksgiving morning breakfast. God does have a sense of humor, as it made me smile, reassured by the never-failing reliability of the praxis we exhibit as human beings. 

So much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Jake & I are incredibly blessed by the family and the community God has placed us in and the love that He daily surrounds us with. I felt so bad this morning for Lafayette. Even though I have often been on my own in the past, I had never felt as lonely as the city looked this morning. 

 Sunrise on Franciscan Lafayette East Hospital.

Much Thanksgiving and Love.